Every soccer country has them but, maybe more than anywhere, England’s F.A. Cup is best known for producing the ultimate in unbelievable underdog upsets against massively favoured opposition.

Like Hereford United in 1972 becoming the first non-league club to defeat a now Premiership team since 1949 with a triumph over Newcastle.

Or Wrexham, 24th in the third division, defeating Arsenal, the then No. 2 team in the nation in 1992. Or non-league Sutton upsetting top division Coventry City in 1989. Or third division Bournemouth over Manchester United in 1984. Or Shrewsbury Town, lying 80 places below Everton, winning that one in 2003 …

If FC Edmonton defeats Toronto FC in Wednesday’s 6 p.m. first leg of the Nutrilite Cup at Commonwealth Stadium, it would be something of that order (other than the Arsenal, Manchester United, etc. part.)

What we’re dealing with here is a team of five years in an established higher league going against a team that has existed for three games, all of them on the road, from a first-year, lower league.

“It’s a Cup game,” said FC Edmonton coach Harry Sinkgraven at Tuesday’s pre-game press conference. “In Cup games you sometimes see results where you say, ‘How is that possible?’

“Hopefully after this one, people will be saying that.”

Toronto FC has but one win to show for seven games in MLS play so far, while FC Edmonton scored wins over Ft. Lauderdale and Atlanta in the first two games of its existence in the new North American Soccer League.

There’s supposed to be a giant gap from one league to the other — MLS teams have payrolls in the $3-million neighborhood (actually a salary cap of $2,675,000 plus the salary of designated players), about six times the average salaries of NASL teams.

Edmonton has three. And only keeper Rein Baart, from the Netherlands, and striker Conrad Smith, from Trinidad and Tobogo, will start. Dutch midfielder Paul Matthijs still out with a high ankle sprain.

On paper this should be a wipeout. But three years ago the Montreal Impact won the Nutrilite out of a lesser league over Toronto FC, and advanced to the 24-team CONCACAF Champions League, where it advanced to the quarterfinals.

The last two years Toronto FC won the Nutrilite. They were bounced out by the Puerto Rico Islanders right off the go in 2009. Puerto Rico is in the new NASL.

Last year Toronto won again and went 2-2-2 in group play to fall short of the quarter finals.

With Vancouver now in the MLS and 4-1 winners over Toronto FC before 22,000 fans in the league opener, there’s added interest in proceedings this year. While Toronto and Edmonton are playing home-and-home sets this Wednesday and next, Montreal and Vancouver are doing the same. Edmonton entering as the fourth legitimate professional team in the Nutrilite has resulted in a format change. The winners of each series advance to play a two-leg series for the Canadian title and the right to advance. So, barely out of the gate, they get to play with the big boys.

As a training-wheels team playing an exhibition season, FC Edmonton drew 5,573 for a highly entertaining 4-3 loss to Colo Colo of Chile, in a hastily-put-together international at Commonwealth Stadium, and drew 8,762 to watch them play Portsmouth, the 2010 FA Cup finalist, to a 1-1 draw in another.

But those were both “friendlies.”

This isn’t. Or it isn’t supposed to be.

While Toronto coach Aron Winter assured those gathered at the press conference that “each game is important” and “we’re not overconfident,” he did say “we’re going to give some guys some rest. We’ve got a big roster.”

While this represents a massive credibility game for the fledgling franchise from Edmonton, Sinkgraven said he thinks his team is up to it.

“When you go to a higher level, space is small and you have less time to make decisions. On the other hand, we have confidence. I don’t know and I don’t care how they might view us. I know we have confidence.”